Fixing Broken Souls
by archangelgabrielhastheTARDIS
Summary: High School AU. Castiel is the hot, popular kid, with a seemingly ideal life. Sure, he's got troubles at home, but he hides them from his friends fairly well. Dean is the shy nerd with an uncontrollable stutter and an alcoholic father, who was left traumatized by his mothers death fourteen years ago. When the two are paired for an english project, will they help or hurt each other?
1. Chapter 1

**Notes: Luke is the name standing in for Lucifer, because who in the twenty-first century would name their kid Lucifer? Really? Sorry if some of the characters *cough, cough, angels and demons, cough, cough* are a bit OOC. If they're like that, it's because I didn't want a high school student to literally be Satan. And he was supposed to be nicer when he was a kid anyway. Also, there are no elements of the supernatural in this, except for some mentions of religions. But no real demons, angels, or monsters. In later chapters, there will be some mentions of child abuse(not too much, just a bit), so don't read if it's a trigger for you. I welcome all reviews, as this is my first published fanfiction.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any associated characters, events, etc.**

Chapter 1

Castiel Novak was the most popular kid at the high school in Lawrence, Kansas. Even more popular than his oldest brothers, the twins, Michael and Luke, were before they graduated. And they had been _insanely_ popular. Castiel, or Cas, as his friends called him, was the captain of the football team, even though he was still only a junior, he was one of the smarter kids in his grade(Not _the_ smartest, however. He had more important things to worry about than studying. Like football practice.), and he was definitely the hottest kid in the school.

His hair was short and ruffled. It was inky black, and looked so soft, like it was made from the down of a raven's wing. He generally wore dark jeans with dark shirts, with no designs on them. His eyes were huge, and were as blue and as sparkling as sapphires. When he gave one of his rare grins, it would take anyone's breath away, and not just the girl's. He kept an air of calm that was almost never disturbed. Most people had never seen him angry, not even on the football field.

Dean Winchester, however, was the butt of half the jokes in the school. He was in the same year as Cas, though Castiel had never even noticed him, and was short, skinny, and nervous. He stuttered when he talked. His hands were often moving, clicking pens rapidly, tapping pencils on desks, or just tapping the desks themselves. He looked like he was scared of everything. He was very smart, mostly because he tried to focus in class to avoid getting in trouble, not because he really felt a passion to learn anything. He was also somewhat handsome, with short, dirty-blond hair that stuck up in messy, medium-sized spikes, that were similar to a hedgehog, and jade green eyes that shone more often with sadness than anything else. He always ducked his head and tried not to draw attention to himself, hiding his face in books and drawing pads.

The only time Dean seemed relaxed was when he was drawing, and even then it was more like he was just letting his anxiety loose into the world rather than actually calming down. Sometimes he'd draw normal things. Two boys playing in a yard while their parents watched; a crib with a baby in it, and a little angel figurine sitting beside it. Normally he drew strange things. A burning body, with no features; a house made of ashes; and eyes. Eyes that had no color in them, only black, as though the pupil had filled the whole thing; eyes that were tinted with a blood red; and eyes that seemed to glow with the color yellow. And sometimes, every now and then, he drew a woman with blond hair and a sweet, kind smile. He always tore her drawings up before someone else saw them. They hurt too much.

They met accidentally just before the first class on a Thursday, bumping into each other in the hallway. Dean hurried to pick up the books they had both dropped.

"I-I'm s-sorry. It w-It was an ac-accident. It won't-It won't ha-happen again." The boy quickly grabbed the scattered papers and handed Castiel his, then hurriedly turned to leave.

A boy on the football team, Uriel, shoved him up against a locker. He had seen what happened but hadn't heard why the boy had said. "Hey! You don't just bump into _Castiel Novak _and then _run off_." He growled in a threatening tone.

Cas gave him a look. "He apologized, Uriel. You can let him go." He noticed that farther down the hallway, another member of the football team, a very talented freshman named Sam, had started coming towards them as quickly as he could. There were multiple people in his way, however, watching the confrontation, so he wasn't very fast.

Uriel let the boy go. He gave the two burly football players a terrified look and practically ran to get away. Sam managed to reach the group right then.

"What happened?" He demanded.

Cas shrugged. "A kid bumped into me. Uriel overreacted a bit. All that happened was my books fell. No harm done." He started walking to his first class, which was in the opposite direction that the boy went.

In Mr. Singer's history class, Castiel had his thoughts drifting to the boy that bumped into him. Why had he looked so scared? Before Uriel pinned him to the wall that is. Not after. Uriel was huge. Almost anyone would be scared after _he_ threatened them. And why had he looked, well, broken? Like his mind and his body were trying to get away from each other. At least, that's the only way Cas could describe it. The kid just looked depressed. _Really_ depressed.

"Mr. Novak, have you heard a word I said this entire class?"

Cas looked up in surprise as their teacher addressed him. His mind rushed to come up with some sort of reply. "Yes, sir, I believe that you said 'Good morning' when you walked in." He replied with a perfectly straight face. The whole class laughed, and Castiel allowed himself a small, nearly invisible smile of triumph.

Mr. Singer clenched his jaw and raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess you proved me wrong, haven't ya?" He said sarcastically. "Pay attention, or next time I'll give ya a detention."

"Yes, sir." Cas agreed, nodding seriously. Then he leaned back in his chair a bit as Mr. Singer continued talking about some war that happened years ago. Cas never got in trouble, not really. As long as he kept his grades above-average and didn't break too many rules, the teachers didn't care so much whether or not he paid attention while they talked. As long as he got the work done.

* * *

While Castiel was at his locker after the second period, his girlfriend Meg came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "Hey, Clarence." She said flirtatiously. It was the name of an angel from a movie or something. Personally, he didn't get why she was comparing him to an angel, but whatever.

"Meg." He said, gracing her with a small smile. He took out the books he needed for his english class and spanish, and put away his his history and geometry books. Then he turned around and kissed her passionately, quickly checking to see if any teachers were nearby. There was a strict rule against public displays of affection, or as the teachers called it, 'PDA'.

She grinned after they pulled apart. "See ya later, angel." She said, walking off towards her next class with a smile.

Cas rolled his eyes and headed off towards his english class.

Mr. Crowley, the english teacher, was in a bad mood. He was often in a bad mood, but this was a really bad mood. And to make it worse, he was going to assign a group project at the end of class. Which meant he'd assign the partners. He never picked good partners. He went out of his way to mismatch partners when he was in a bad mood. Stick the nerd with the bully, sort of thing. As soon as the class entered the classroom, a heavy sense of dread filled the air.

Cas made it through half of class without drawing attention to himself. Good. It was always worse when you drew attention to yourself. There was a rapid clicking sound from the back of the room, but Cas didn't dare turn to see what it was.

Halfway through class, Mr. Crowley found a victim. "Mr. Winchester," He started in a soft tone that was much more terrifying than when other teachers raised their voices. Along with his accent, it made him sound like some British James Bond villain. "If you don't stop clicking that pen, _this instant_," His voice turned to a snarl. "I will personally ensure that you have detention for the rest of the school year."

The whole class turned to see who he was talking to. It was the boy from earlier that day. His hands shook slightly as he shoved the pen in his bag, avoiding the teacher's gaze. "Y-y-yes, sir." He whispered nervously.

Castiel felt a pang of pity. If this kid got scared bumping into people in the hallway, being singled out by Mr. Crowley must have felt like being in a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. The school-wide nickname for Crowley was the King of Hell. And boy, did he earn it.

As the class continued to look at the poor kid, Cas noticed he boy's hands were now shaking furiously. Maybe he had an anxiety issue? That was probably it.

Crowley gave the boy a glare for a few minutes longer, then went on to explain the project. As he handed out a paper with the guidelines, he started to speak. "You'll be paired up, and _I'll_ do the pairing up, by the way, and you have to work together to make a video of an act of a Shakespearean play. Not just a scene, an act. You can get siblings and other friends to help you, but I expect you to have the main speaking roles. If you mess up the lines in any way," He added, now looking straight at the boy who had bumped into Cas and clicked the pen. "Points will be deducted. It's the lines that matter, not the ability to act." The boy looked completely dismayed. Castiel was starting to wonder if he should send flowers to this kids funeral. It was definitely going to be soon. His stutter seemed uncontrollable, and Cas doubted that anyone wanted to be paired with him. "These groups are permanent. No going back. What I say is final. Once I assign all the partners, you'll have five minutes before the end of class to talk about the project. By the way, It's due a month from tomorrow." The teacher warned.

Crowley walked over to his computer so he could enter the pairs. "Right. Now then." The teacher glanced up at the class. Alistair, you'll be with Uriel." Both boys sent silent death glares at each other. "Kevin Tran," Crowley spat out that last name. Kevin was a boy he couldn't stand. "You'll be with Richard Roman." Ooh. Ouch. Kevin wouldn't last a week. He was a small, nerdy kid, and Richard, or 'Dick' as he liked to be called(A surprisingly accurate nickname), was the worst, most ruthless bully in the school. "Dean Winchester," Crowley said, smiling cruelly at the boy who with the stutter. "You'll be with Castiel Novak."

Cas's heart stopped beating. He kept his face cool and impassive like always, giving the boy, Dean, an emotionless glance. On the inside he was freaking out. He knew this project was the most important one of the semester, and now his grade was tied to a kid with the worst stutter he had ever heard being able to recite Shakespeare perfectly.

Dean paled, and gave him a panicked look. Then he took a deep breath and clenched fists, closing his eyes in an effort to calm himself. His arms started shaking, so he folded them against his chest. Cas felt bad for him, but worse for himself. His mom expected all the Novak children to be perfect, even if they had a difficult partner on a project. Getting a B- would most likely result in him being grounded for a month. _This_ assignment was going to get him killed.

Cas didn't really listen as Mr. Crowley named the other pairs. He was too busy trying to think of a Shakespearean play that had two parts with decent speaking roles, to make Crowley happy, but not parts too long, because Dean wouldn't be able to do it well, and he'd, no, they'd, fail. And then his mom would kill him. It was times like these that he really missed his dad. Dad wasn't nearly as uptight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Thank you, everyone who is reading this, and if you followed or reviewed, thank you so much! I'm going to try to post a chapter every Friday, and there should be nine or ten chapters in total. This chapter just kinda introduces Sam and Meg, and their respective personalities. Sorry that it's short.**

Chapter2

Meg slammed her backpack on the table when she got down to lunch. Cas gave her a puzzled look. Meg had a short temper, but normally she kept it under wraps.

"Guess who I'm paired up with for english?" She exclaimed angrily. "Joanna Harvelle. _Joanna_. _Freaking_. _Harvelle_! I hate Joanna Harvelle!"

"Yes, we realized that last year when you tried to kill her." Castiel said seriously, going back to his lunch.

Meg sat down and crossed her arms. "I did _not_ try to kill her! I can't help it if she provokes my dog into attacking her and her mother! And anyways, they barely got hurt!"

He grinned at her. "Sure you didn't." She tried to keep glaring at him, but couldn't help but grin as well. She hadn't exactly been upset with her dog afterwards, and besides, his smile was contagious.

"It was an accident, though." She said haughtily. "Who'd you guys get paired with?" She was asking the table in general, not just Cas.

Uriel groaned. "Alastair."

"Ick. What about you, Balthazar?"

Balthazar shrugged. "Dunno. I've got Crowley next period."

"Cas? What about you?"

Castiel sighed and put a hand to his eyes. "Dean something. His last name starts with a W. That kid with the really bad stutter." He finished.

"Dean _Winchester_?" Meg started to laugh a bit. "You're kidding. How is that kid even in a level three class? He's insane! Poor you. There is _no way_ that you're gonna get anything higher than a D."

"Thanks, Meg. I feel so much better now." He retorted dryly.

"Well, it's true." She said defensively. "The whole grade is based on how well you can say the lines. I've never heard him say anything without stuttering. It doesn't help that Crowley hates him. And you, for that matter. Though, to be fair, Crowley hates everybody."

Cas sighed. In the last five minutes of english, he and Dean had agreed that they should look for a play with the second most talkative person in the act not having a lot of lines, but they didn't know where to start.

Sam, the freshman, came up to the table with his lunch tray. "Hey, guys. Why all the long faces?" He asked as he sat down.

Meg answered. "The big english project for this semester came up, and Crowley chose the partners."

Sam winced. "Oh."

"Yep. I'm with Joanna Harvelle, Uriel's with Alistair." Meg paused.

Sam shot Uriel a sympathetic glance then tuned back to Meg and looked at her for a moment. "I don't think Jo's that bad..." He trailed off.

"She's not." Cas agreed. "But Jo and Meg don't exactly get along."

"But those aren't even the worst ones." Meg started again. "The worst one is Castiel's partner. The project is to make a video that's one act of Shakespeare with your partner, and it's graded by your ability to to say the lines. Cas's partner is this crazy kid named Dean who can't talk without a stutter! There is no way Cas will pass this one."

Sam's face became unreadable. "Dean Winchester?" He asked cautiously. Meg nodded. Sam raised a cynical eyebrow at her. "He's my older brother."

Everyone stared at him. Even Cas, who was normally unflappable, was clearly surprised. Sam didn't look anything like Dean. He was taller, had darker, longer hair, and was much, _much_ more confident. Though to be fair, that wasn't hard.

"And," Sam continued, now full on glaring at her. "The reason he stutters like that is because of a traumatic event when we were kids. There was a fire. I don't know exactly what he saw, no one does, but he hasn't been the same since. I look out for him. If you call him crazy while I'm around a second time, I promise you won't live to regret it. That's the only warning you're getting. Any of you." He added, looking around the table.

From most freshman, that threat would have been stupid. Laughable, in fact. But Sam was huge. He was tall, he was muscular, and it was pretty easy to tick him off about some things. Even Uriel, who, for years, had been the biggest person Castiel knew, wouldn't be able to win against Sam. So, it was actually pretty terrifying.

"Besides," Sam added more lightly. "If he tries hard enough, he doesn't stutter. It's just difficult for him to keep it up for too long. Give him a bit of time, and he'll be fine for the project."

The group kept staring at him until he went back to eating. Then, slowly, they started talking about topics that _didn't_ involve the Winchester brothers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay guys, chapter three! I was going to update tomorrow afternoon, but I'm gonna be busy, so it's here almost twenty-four hours earlier than I thought! Once again, thank you for all the reviews and favorites and follows and what not! This chapter goes more into depth on Castiel's problems. I hope you like it!**

Chapter 3

Cas met Gabriel and Raphael, two of his older brothers, as well as the second pair of twins in the Novak family, by the doors that led into the gym when he left school.

"So, Cassie, what's new? Crowley decide who he's going to force you to film with?" Gabriel asked with a grin.

"Yes. Dean Winchester." Cas didn't share the details.

"You mean, the Dean Winchester with the stutter? Sam's younger brother?" Gabriel asked, his face changing from amused to curious in less than a second.

"Yeah." Castiel frowned. "Wait, how do you know he's Sam's older brother?"

"Believe it or not, kiddo, I _do_ talk to your friends when they're at our house." Gabe said dryly. "What's the kid like?"

Cas shrugged, his face returning to it's bored, emotionless expression. "Terrified of everything. His brother said he was traumatized by a fire or something."

Raphael had wandered a bit ahead of them. He wasn't really interested in Castiel's friends. Gabriel, however, had stayed, and he whispered conspiratorially to his younger brother. "They say," Gabe whispered conspiratorially. "That _demons_ lit their house on fire, and the only person that saw was Dean, and it's haunted him ever since." Then Gabriel started laughing, shaking away his failure to produce a spooky atmosphere. "I don't actually believe that."

Castiel rolled his eyes. "Really? I never would have guessed." He deadpanned. Gabriel didn't really believe in demons, and God, and other supernatural creatures. Cas didn't know whether or not he believed, but he figured that since he's only sixteen, he has plenty of time to decide.

"It's true that the Winchester's house burned down." Gabriel continued in a normal voice. "And that Dean and Sam were the only two that made it out. Their dad was at the store or the bar or something. Their mom died. Dean was four and Sam was one. And most people are pretty sure that the older kid saw his mom burning to death. Stuff like that's gonna mess a kid up. Especially at age four." Inwardly, Cas wondered how Gabriel had heard all this when Cas, who was one of Sam's friends, and in the same year as Dean, hadn't. "And from what I've heard, their dad has been trying to drink himself to death since then, which really can't help."

They walked into a nicer neighborhood. It was a pretty suburban area, with big houses that had nice yards. A few houses down the first street, the trio walked up the driveway of a pale yellow, two story, modern looking house, with big windows that let sunlight in, and white trim. As they reached the door, Raphael went to pull out a key, but was interrupted by the door opening.

Michael Novak stood there, with a big grin on his face. Looking past him into the kitchen, they saw Luke conversing with Anna, the youngest child who was still in middle school.

"Mikey!" Gabriel exclaimed. "Luke! What are you doing here?" Raphael was grinning, glad to see the two oldest Novaks. Castiel also broke out into a wide grin, all thoughts of his bad day gone.

"Well, we couldn't miss the apocalypse!" Mike laughed, winking at Cas. He laughed. Only his siblings could get him to laugh.

"It's just a football game." Cas said, as he entered the house behind the twins. "I didn't expect you two to show, not since last time." Michael stopped smiling momentarily, but the grin came back quickly.

"Yeah, well, It's your final game this year. We couldn't miss that!" Luke piped up from the counter he was sitting on. He smiled warmly at his younger siblings.

"So, have a good day at school?" Mike asked, giving the teens a look over and deciding that Gabriel and Raphael had average days, and Cas had a terrible one. "What's wrong, Cas?"

Cas gave his brother a small smile. "Is it really that obvious that I had a bad day?"

"Yes." Anna and Luke answered at the same time as Mike.

Cas sighed and sat down at the table, placing his bag on the floor next to him. "Crowley gave us the Shakespeare video project today. And he assigned our partners."

Michael and Luke grimaced simultaneously. "The King of Hell's still at it, huh?" Luke said in a nasty tone of voice.

"Yep."

"Who'd you get partnered with?" Mike asked, concern tinting his features.

"Dean Winchester. He's a kid that's scared of everything and has a nearly uncontrollable stutter."

Mike gave Cas a small, bitter smile, but Luke just shrugged. "Could've been worse. I got partnered with some goth chick that wouldn't carry her own weight. And last year Gabe got partnered with that Kali chick. And really, the only one here who got a good partner was Raphael, with that writer kid, Charles or Chuck or whatever. Sure, Raphael had to keep him from getting pounded from time to time, but he helped do the work and didn't complain about it. And at least a kid with a stutter can try to control it." Gabriel grimaced as his older brother talked. It had not been fun to work with Kali. Their mother almost had to get a restraining order on her.

"But that's the problem!" Cas exclaimed angrily. "He can't control it, well maybe for a little while, but long enough to record an act of Shakespeare? I doubt it. Which means I'm going to fail, which means mother's going to throw a fit!" He looked at his older brothers in despair. "What am I supposed to do?"

There was a momentary silence, then Anna changed the subject. "Let's talk about the apocalypse." She said hesitantly.

The apocalypse was a football game, one that would be taking place the next day. Students had nicknamed it the apocalypse because the school football team, the Archangels, would be going against another team that, over the summer, had changed its name from the Hounds to the Hellhounds. The two teams were the best ones in the region, and the game was going to be bloody. So calling the game 'the apocalypse' just seemed right.

"We'll beat the Hellhounds." Cas assured her, somewhat grateful for the change in topic. "We've got a better team than we've had in years, and last year we almost won. So unless they made a deal with the devil, we'll win."

Mike crossed his arms and pursed his lips in mock anger. "I'm insulted. I think my team was better."

Cas flashed him a grin. "Maybe so, but everyone at school agrees that their captain wasn't _nearly _as handsome. And I think that's what counts, don't you?"

Mike hit Cas lightly on the back of his head. "Smart alec." He muttered.

"So, Mike, how's your boyfriend doing?" Gabe asked as he pulled a bright red lollipop out of his pocket.

"Adam?" Mike said distractedly. "He's great. He's worth getting kicked out of the house for." He added nonchalantly.

Cas frowned. He liked Adam Milligan, Michael's boyfriend, but he didn't like that their mother, Naomi Novak, had kicked Michael out of the house when she found out he was gay. It didn't help that Luke, forever loyal to his twin, had left at the same time. Naomi was a very prejudiced catholic. There were plenty of people in the catholic church that didn't care which way people went, but Naomi was not one of them. She thought that homosexuality was a sin. Cas couldn't care less about his brother's preferences. He just wished Michael and Luke still lived with them, not in the next state over to be closer to Adam. They hadn't said it out loud, but it was clear that they also meant, 'and father away from _her_'.

Ever since their father had left them, Naomi, who hadn't been the kindest person in the first place, went cold. She spent more time working than at home, and she pushed her children to be perfect. One of Cas's earliest memories is from right after they moved to Lawrence. Naomi had been talking to them about how their father had corrupted them. She said they were broken. Cas had believed her. _Then_ she started driving them to be perfect. She wanted to 'fix' them. She said that to be successful, you had to be smart, athletic, talented, and well-known and well-liked. So she pushed them to be different people than who they wanted to be. She pushed them to be who _she_ wanted to be. If you were popular, Naomi said, you would have more contacts when you got into a business. You would have a good reputation.

She changed from being mama to mom to Ma'am, and in other people's company, mother. It affected Castiel and Anna the most, because Cas could only barely remember a time before her transformation, and Anna was only two when it happened.

Their conversations after school went from "How was your day? Did you have fun?" to "Are you still in the top ten of your class? Are you still the best at football? Are you still popular?". And every question was answered with "Yes Ma'am." To be the way his mother wanted him to be, Castiel hid his real emotions and faked the emotions he had to. He laughed at jokes he didn't find funny, because they were made by the right people. He surrounded himself with jocks and cheerleaders, because they were popular. He had even occasionally dated girls he didn't like, because his mother would approve of them, and that was his goal. To make his mother approve of him, and his choices. He thought himself lucky that he had finally met Meg, who he liked _and_ who his mother approved of. Only once he went to high school did he realize there was more to life. But he didn't change his ways, because he didn't want to be deemed 'broken'.

Castiel actually wouldn't have minded being partnered with Dean if it weren't for his mother. Despite his stutter, Dean actually seemed like someone Cas wouldn't mind being friends with. Sure, he was a bit awkward, but so what? But being a Novak changed all of that. In the Novak household, failure was not an option. Being Dean Winchester's partner in the English project most likely meant failure. And there was nothing Cas could do about it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! This chapter is super short, I'm sorry. It's also probably the worst one, because I have limited knowledge of how traumatized people actually act. This is basically a small thing about Dean, and talks about how he thinks of himself. I promise that the next chapter is longer. And better overall. I hope you like it! Also, there is another note at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any associated characters, events, etc.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Dean sat in his room and drew. He liked drawing. Over the years, he had gotten surprisingly good at it. Well, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. And practicing drawing was one of the few things Dean had done consistently for the last thirteen years.

Dean felt terrible. Castiel Novak didn't want to be his partner. Who would? But Castiel was actually a nice guy, so he didn't say anything but "We need a play where you don't have to talk too much." And Dean had agreed. Most kids would have complained. Most kids would have gotten mad at Dean for being crazy. Castiel just looked tired, though he managed to hide it well. _Poor Castiel_, Dean thought as he drew, _Getting paired up with the insane kid_. He knew he was crazy. Sammy said he wasn't, and that he'd be better when he got older, but it had been _thirteen years_ since the fire, and he saw no sign of improving.

According to the doctor that his father, John, took him to see, Dean would feel better if he talked about it. Dean didn't want to talk about it. Who would he talk about it with? Not the doctor, he didn't really know that guy. Not Sam. Dean was supposed to protect Sam. Telling him about the traumatic sight that drove him mad wouldn't protect Sam, it would hurt him. And he couldn't tell his dad, because John Winchester was depressed enough as it is. He knew that Dean and Sam's mom, his wife, Mary, died in the fire. And that alone caused him to drink at least every other day. He didn't need to know what it looked like to a traumatized four year old. Or about how he could've sworn he saw demonic eyes everywhere when it happened, though he knew that the the whole idea of demons was stupid. And if Dean talked to someone, anyone, about that night, he knew he'd go into details. He didn't know how he knew, since he'd never talked about it, but he knew he would. Did that make sense? Dean hoped so. Besides, John Winchester didn't like Dean. Sam was his favorite son, because Sam wasn't crazy. He pretended to like Dean, but he was always trying to push him away.

He scribbled at the paper in front of him, making a small black and white sketch that was surprisingly detailed. There was a knock at his door. He froze, and stared at the door for a moment before calling out. "C-come in."

Sam opened the door and went to sit on the bed. Dean relaxed a bit. He didn't freeze up so much or stutter when it was Sam. Sam was the one person whom Dean thought of as a friend.

"Hey, Dean. So, I heard earlier that you got the english assignment." Sam began cautiously. Dean nodded and started tapping his pencil on the pad of paper. "You're with Castiel Novak, right?" Dean nodded again. He had forgotten that Sam was friends with that guy. He hoped his weirdness didn't make Sam less popular with the cool kids. Sam seemed happy with them at school. "How do you think you're gonna do?"

"Terribly." Muttered Dean, taking a deep breath. At least he hadn't stuttered. Being around Sam generally calmed him down. If he was near Dean, he wasn't off getting hurt, or stuck burning alive in a fire, or something else that Dean worried almost endlessly about. The second one worried Dean the most. Not that it was _extremely_ likely, but it was still possible.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." The brothers sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Then Sam spoke again. "You going to see the game on Friday?"

Dean shrugged. "Dunno. M-maybe if dad do-does." He gave a small laugh. "Don't want t-to miss the apoc-apocalypse."

"I think dad plans on going."

"Uh, sure, then. I guess I'll g-go."

* * *

**Yeah, that chapter was terrible and tiny. I'm sorry. I was trying to sum up that Dean kinda hates himself, and thinks he's crazy, while Sam thinks he can get better if he just _tried_. That's important to the story, otherwise I wouldn't have posted this chapter. The next chapter is fun, and features the apocalypse! Yay!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Time for the apocalypse! This is the halfway point in the story, and it's not as tense as the other chapters. I don't actually know anything about football(all my knowledge comes from the two times I sorta-kinda watched the Superbowl), so, sorry about that. I tried. I hope you like it! As always, reviews are welcome!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or associated characters, events, etc.**

* * *

Chapter 5

"Okay, kiddos," Zachariah was laughing as the team got ready before the game on Friday. "The apocalypse is nigh! Coming soon to a theatre near you!"

Cas smirked a little as they donned their helmets and stepped out onto the field. The crowd cheered from the bleachers. The cheerleading squad, lead by Meg, was jumping up and down and doing all those other cheerleader things. The Hellhounds were entering the field nearby. Everyone was chanting loudly. "APOCALYPSE! APOCALYPSE!" Castiel was fairly sure that this was the biggest turnout for a game all season. Must be the name. The apocalypse. It really brings in a crowd. The football teams waved into the bleachers as they took their places.

Cas noticed Sam looking way in the back of the crowd and followed his gaze. There was Dean, standing next to a man whom Cas assumed to be their father. Cas couldn't quite tell from this distance, but he thought that Dean was grinning, which surprised him. Dean didn't strike him as someone who smiled much, especially in large crowds.

* * *

The game ended with twenty to eighteen, in the Archangels favor. The Hellhounds seemed upset, but the kids at Lawrence High School couldn't have been happier.

Some of the parents and siblings and friends came down to talk to their teams and congratulate them. Cas noticed Sam meeting his father and Dean at the edge of the field, a bit away from the enormous, loud group. He didn't see this for long, however, because he was soon swarmed by his own relatives and admirers.

"Nice work, Cassie!" Gabe exclaimed, giving him a high five. Cas was the only Novak currently on the football team.

"Good going, squirt!" Mike gave him a hearty slap on the back. "Maybe you _did_ manage to get a better team then me!"

Raphael also gave him a high five. Anna was cheering loudly in his ear, and Luke was going on about how great the plays were, and what he could do to improve them. He couldn't really make out what he was saying, because Anna was closer and _much_ louder.

"Hey, Clarence!" Meg wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a kiss. "Balthazar's throwing a party to celebrate. You there?" She glanced around at his family. "Your family can come too." She gave Luke a flirtatious grin. He was the second most attractive Novak, followed very closely by Michael. Obviously Cas was the first.

Castiel frowned. "What time is it?" he asked warily. Their mother got home at exactly nine o'clock on Fridays. "Mom would kill us if we were out too late."

"Oh, yeah." Meg's face fell. Then she perked up. "Sam always has a watch! Let's go ask him." Cas nodded and he, Meg, and, for some reason, Gabriel, went over to the Winchesters. "Hey, Sammy!" Meg said as she came up. out of the corner of his eye, Cas noticed Dean shrinking back a bit behind his father. "What time is it?"

Sam went to look at his watch, but it was gone. "Uh, dunno. My watch must have fallen off during the game. And don't call me Sammy, please."

To the whole group's surprise, Dean spoke up. "I-it's sev-seven f-fifteen."

"Thanks." Cas nodded at Dean, who just went back to silently hiding behind his father.

Meg looked expectantly at the youngest Winchester. "Balthazar is throwing a party. You in?"

Sam glanced at his father and his brother. "Dad? Is it okay with you?"

His dad frowned. "How exactly would you get home? And when?"

Sam stopped and thought for a second. He seemed to be about to tell them no, he'd just go home now, when Gabriel offered a solution. "We could give him a ride. We need to get home by eight thirty anyways."

Mr. Winchester nodded, and turned back to Sam. "Don't get into any trouble. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He paused, then changed his mind. "Scratch that, don't do anything you're brother wouldn't do."

"So, wait, am I supposed to do whatever comes to mind, or hide in a corner. That was a bit unclear." Sam asked, in a sarcastic, but not rude, tone of voice. Dean laughed, then blushed and and tried to turn invisible again.

Mr. Winchester scowled. "You know what I mean." He sighed, not even trying to defend himself from his son's accusation. "Just don't do anything stupid."

"Thanks, dad!" Sam started to walk towards the group, but then turned back to his family. "See you later." Dean gave a small wave. He wasn't smiling like he had been before the game, but he wasn't as nervous as he had been in school for the two days that Cas had known him.

Balthazar's party was fun, Cas supposed. He didn't really notice much of it. He kept worrying that maybe _tonight_ was the first night since he was in elementary school that his mother went home early. The house would be empty, and she would call. And the party was loud, so no one would hear their phones. And she would freak out, and when they got home, she would go ballistic on them. It wouldn't help that they were going to be in Michael's car. She didn't particularly want Mike near the house, though she wasn't willing to go so far as getting a restraining order.

At eight, Luke walked up and tapped on his shoulder. "Hey, Cas, we got to go!" He had to yell over the music. "Find your friend and meet us at the front door." Castiel nodded and went off to get Sam.

Sam was making out with a girl that Cas vaguely recognized as a sophomore girl on the cheerleading squad, Ruby. "Sam! It's time to go!" Sam pulled away from Ruby and nodded.

"Okay, Cas." He turned back to the girl. "I have to go. The Novaks are giving me a ride home." She pouted and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Cas was surprised to see Sam blush. He was so big that sometimes you forgot he was only fourteen, and relatively innocent. "Uh-sorry Ruby. Not today. Dad would kill me if I wasn't home soon." He hurriedly pulled away from her arms and followed Castiel to the door.

As they got into Mike's car, Cas turned to Sam with a knowing look in his eye. "Did Ruby say what I think she said?" Everyone in the car turned to look at them, except for Michael, who focused on the road. He was probably listening. Ruby was well known for getting the football players into bed with her. Cas had never even talked to her, but that was probably because Meg threatened her with extreme bodily harm if she went near him.

"Shut up, Cas." Sam was a brighter red than Cas thought was possible for a human to be.

"Is that a yes? Because she was wrapped around you pretty tightly." Cas smirked a bit at him. He knew Sam didn't actually mind being teased about it so much. If he did, Cas wouldn't have said anything. Sam was one of the few people that Cas considered a _real_ friend. It wasn't that his other friendships were fake, but they weren't as strong. Sam shot Cas a dirty look. Cas shrugged, but kept the smirk plastered on his face. "I'm just saying."

"So, Ruby, huh?" Gabe twitched his eyebrows suggestively at Sam. "I've heard she can be a real _demon_ while-"

"Okay! You can shut up now!" Sam buried his head in his hands, failing to conceal how hard he was blushing. The car burst into laughter, which made him try even harder to hide his face.

When they reached Sam's house, he hopped out and walked away, waving at them. He reached the door and fumbled for his key, which he didn't have on him. Then he seemed to sigh, though it was hard to tell from the car, and rang the doorbell. Dean answered it. He smiled at his younger brother, then saw the car that still sat by the curb and kind of ducked his head, moving from the doorway to out of their line of sight.

"That's a nice car." Raphael said, pointing to the Impala that sat in the driveway. It seemed pristine. It looked better off than the house itself.

"It's a 1967 Chevrolet Impala." Cas informed him. "From what Sam's said, it's more important to their dad then the rest of their possessions combined."

"It's in perfect condition." Luke noted, as they pulled away from the house. The group nodded their agreement.

They drove home in relative silence. When they got to the house, the high-schoolers bid their two oldest brothers goodbye. Inside, Cas looked at the clock on the stove.

"Shit!" He exclaimed. Everyone looked at him.

"What happened?" Gabe asked with a confused look. Cas pointed to the clock as an answer. Gabriel cursed too, more profoundly than Castiel had. The clock read; eight fifty-four. Naomi Novak always got home at nine PM sharp.

"Anna, get in bed, now! It's past your bedtime. I'm going to bed too. If she asks, my homework's done." Cas turned to his older brothers as he said this. "You should either go to bed, or find something really quiet to do."

Raphael gave him a cross look. "We know that."

Anna stalked off with a grimace. "I'm thirteen, not a baby. I shouldn't _have_ a bedtime!" Silently, Castiel agreed with her, but didn't say anything as he raced past her to reach his room.

As Castiel changed into his nightclothes as fast as possible, he heard his mother enter the house downstairs. She said something to the older sons, then headed up the stairs. Cas turned off his light and jumped in bed, feigning sleep. After a moment, there was a creak as his mother opened his door to check on him. She left quickly, however, probably wanting to check on Anna.

He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that his mother didn't have a chance to talk to him. Every year, he became a bit more convinced that he wasn't the broken one, but she was. Not that he'd tell her that. He wasn't stupid.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Here's chapter six! Dean's going to be slightly more like he is in the show at the end of this one. I hope you like it, and, as always, reviews are awesome, and I can't wait for your feedback!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or associated characters, events, etc.**

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Chapter 6

On Monday, Dean Winchester sat in english, praying desperately for a reason to leave class. Anything. He had worked on stopping his stutter all weekend, but it didn't really help. It was best when he wasn't under any pressure. The Shakespeare project counted as pressure. As Castiel walked in, Dean frowned. The second best thing to being pulled out of class was Castiel being absent. So far, no luck.

The seats had been moved into groups of two. For today only, they were being given time in class to talk about what they were going to do. Then they'd go back to their regular seating and normal classwork. Dean had sat in the middle of the room. Castiel came over and joined him.

They spent about three minutes before the bell rang ignoring each other, with Dean doodling in his notebook and Cas talking to his friends. Then Mr. Crowley came in and everyone went quiet.

"Alright, class, today you can talk to your partner about the project. Tomorrow we're going back to our regularly scheduled studies. Don't get too loud. If I hear you talking about anything other than the project, you're getting detention." He was in a good mood, then. Well, as good as the King of Hell's moods got. Most days started with him insulting them. Thinking about it, Dean thought he probably shouldn't be a teacher if he hated kids. But go figure.

Castiel turned to Dean. "I think I found a play that should have enough lines for Crowley, but not be too taxing." He informed Dean stiffly.

Dean nodded shakily. "Oh. Good. What is it?" He didn't stutter! Admittedly, those were very small sentences, but still! His hands shook a bit, though. He forced himself not to tap his pencil rapidly on the desk.

"The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Act one. The two main roles in that act are Cassius and Brutus. You'd be playing Brutus. He has shorter lines." He added bluntly.

Dean blushed. "O-okay." The stutter was back. Damn. "Um, s-so, how many p-people will we need t-to play e-e-e…" He sighed in frustration and concentrated. "Extras?" He finally managed. He blushed again when he noticed Cas was watching with a raised eyebrow. It didn't seem scornful, but it still hurt to be looked at like some freak. Not that he wasn't one, but still.

"Ten or eleven. My siblings have agreed to help, however. So we need five or six more people." Castiel's piercing blue eyes stared at Dean with apathy. "Can you think of anyone else that will help?"

"Um...S-sammy said he w-would. Uh...I don't r-really kn-know anyone else." Dean noticed that he had started whispering, as though he was telling Castiel a huge secret, even though it was obvious he didn't have any other friends.

Cas just shrugged. "Alright. I can find more people. If we have to, then we can have someone play more than one role."

Dean smiled awkwardly. "G-great." Cas didn't blink much. It was freaking Dean out a bit.

"We'll need to meet up to film it some time in the next two and a half weeks."

"Yeah. Uh...I-I'm free an-any time." Dean started tapping his fingers on the desk. He stopped himself, worried Crowley would freak out on him.

The classroom's phone rang. Everyone became quieter, staring at it. Mr. Crowley sighed and picked up. "Room six hundred and sixty six, Anthony J. Crowley speaking." He said in a bored tone. "Right, I'll send him down." He hung up the phone and turned to the class. "Mr. Winchester, you're going down to the office."

Dean's heart jumped for joy, then sank to his feet. He was glad to be getting out of english, but what happened? Was he in trouble? He hoped not. Dad would kill him if he was in trouble. Did something happen to Sammy? Oh, God, if something happened to Sam, then he didn't know what he'd do. Jump off the school or something, probably. Make a deal with the devil to bring him back, maybe.

_I take it back. I want to stay in class. If there is a God, then please. Just turn back time so this never happened._

He walked up to his teacher's desk, feeling like he was walking to a funeral. He waited for Mr. Crowley to write him a pass, then practically ran out of the room.

He had to force himself to walk calmly into the office. The secretary gave him a sympathetic glance and told him to go into the vice principal's office. He cast a nervous glance around the room, and relaxed visibly when he saw Sam standing there, worried but healthy.

The vice principal, Mrs. Jody Mills, gave the boys a mournful look. Dean's heart stopped. "What's wrong?" He stared at her, eyes wide. Did something happen to, like, a relative or something?

"Boys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news." Mrs. Mills says with a long sigh. Dean's heart starts hammering at his ribs, seemingly trying to break out of his chest. "But there was a car crash. Your father is in the hospital."

Sam gasped. Dean went numb. _Please don't tell me he was drinking_, he pleaded silently. He felt Sam grab his arm for support, and he turned to look at his younger brother.

Sam's eyes were wide. He looked like something inside of him had cracked. Dean's mind instantly went from, _make sure dad's okay_, to _take care of Sammy_. It didn't matter that at age fifteen, Sam was already taller than Dean, and it didn't matter that he was normally the tough one in their duo. He was still Dean's baby brother, and he didn't know how to handle this problem. Which meant it was Dean's job.

"Is he going to be okay?" Dean asked. Sam turned and gaped at him. Dean realized that he hadn't stuttered. Awesome.

Mrs. Mills pursed her lips. "He's going to make it, but he'll be in the hospital for at least a month. Is there anyone you need to call? Also, the car he was driving was towed away to the police department. Someone needs to pick it up within the next twentyfour hours, or else it'll be scrapped."

Dean frowned. "I'll get the car later. And no, we don't need to call anyone." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Sam was still staring at him in surprise. "Thank you, though."

Mrs. Mills gave him a concerned glance. "Are you sure you're alright?" She asked finally.

"No Ma'am." Dean said sincerely, giving her a strained smile. "Just good in a crisis."

That seemed to satisfy her. "Will you boys need some time off to get a handle on things?" She asked, her voice now getting more business-like.

"Um..." Dean glanced at Sam, who was now focused on a point off in the distance. "Yeah." he said quietly, still looking at his younger brother. "That might be best. Is it okay if we go home early?"

The vice principal smiled sympathetically. "That's fine. I hope your father recovers soon." She looked at Sam. "Are you alright, Samuel?"

He startled and stared at her for a minute before answering. "What? Oh. Yeah. I'll be fine." His eyes glistened with tears and he turned away. "Just give me a minute." Dean had no doubt that his brother didn't want to be seen crying by anyone, especially since Dean, who Sammy considered fragile, was holding together so well.

"C'mon, Sammy." Dean starts gently. "Let's get our stuff and go home."

Mrs. Mills writes them dismissal passes to give to their teachers. Sam heads off to his gym class to get his stuff, and Dean heads back to english.

When he gets back to the room, everyone's staring at him. He ignores them and goes up to Mr. Crowley. "I'm being dismissed." he says quietly, showing his teacher the pass. Mr. Crowley rolls his eyes.

"Fine. Now get your stuff and scram."

As he gathers his stuff back at his desk, Cas just looks at him, his brow creased, and his head tilted to one side. "What happened?" He asks finally.

Dean shoots him a glare. He was fighting back tears, and trying to hide them as best as he could, but all he could do was stop them from falling. "None of your damn business." He growls. Cas shrugs, seeing the unshed tears in Dean's eyes and dropping the subject. Everyone that heard what he said starts whispering between themselves. No one talks to Castiel Novak like that. Especially not some nobody like Dean. Not to mention the lack of the stutter. Even Dean didn't know if he wasn't stuttering because he was mad, or because he was forcing himself to be calm.

* * *

Sam and Dean sat in John Winchester's hospital room, waiting to see if their father woke up. They only had an hour of visiting time today, so if they were lucky, he'd wake up soon. The nurses had warned he might be a bit out of it from the medication, but the boys said that was fine. What they didn't say was that they were used to him being out of it after drinking.

After fifteen minutes or so, Dean was glaring at the wall opposite him, and Sam looked like he was going to cry or fall asleep. Dean wouldn't judge him if he did, but if John woke up, he'd be mad. He'd think Sam wasn't being a man enough or something. Dean hated it when he talked that way to Sam.

"Sam?" There was a small croak from the bed. Both boys looked over and saw their father staring groggily at the youngest Winchester, not fully focused on him. John was pretty badly beat up. His face was covered in cuts, bruises, and bandages. It hurt just to look at him.

"Yeah dad, it's me." Sam said quietly. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continueing in a low voice. "How're you feeling?"

John seemed confused. "Like I got run over by a bus. What the hell happened?"

Sam exchanged a glance with Dean, who's face remained impassive. "There was a car accident. You should be fine in a few weeks. Um, the car's pretty badly messed up, but we'll get it fixed before you're home. Promise." The Impala was more important to John Winchester than his life was. If he died, his last wish would be 'take care of my car'.

"It better be." John growled. "Where's Dean? He okay?" He tried to squint and turn his head to look around, but couldn't because of all the bandages.

"I'm here, dad." Dean said, keeping the mess of emotions out of his voice.

"Dean?"

Dean swallowed hard. _Stay strong for Sammy. He can't handle this by himself._ "Yeah."

"Sammy? You tell those doctors to let me outta here right now." John glared as much as he could without wincing.

Sam's eyes went wide. "Dad, you need to stay here." He said, his voice cracking. "If you leave, you could hurt yourself pretty badly."

"I'll be fine. Now get. Me. Out. Of. Here. Or so help me, I'll-"

Dean snapped. "Or what? You'll go to the bar and drink yourself to death? Maybe drive around town while you're hammered?" His voice rose. "You already do that, that's why you're here in the first place! Mom's gone, we ain't losing you as well! If you try to come home early, we won't let you. The doctors won't let you. Stop taking out your anger on Sam, okay! It's not his fault, it's your's!" At some point, Dean had started yelling, and was now standing over his father, glaring at him. He clenched his teeth, turned, and walked out the door, slamming it as he left.

Sam felt his jaw drop. Dean had never gotten in a fight with their dad before. Sam had, but he tried not to around Dean. Dean always did what John said, never questioned him. He was the good son. So seeing him yell at their dad, then walk out on him, shocked Sam. John was surprised too. He gaped at the door, then his gaze snapped around to Sam. "Get out of here." He growled. "Go get my car fixed."

"Uh, yeah. I'll go do that." Sam said quietly. His brother was acting really weird today. First no stutters, now yelling at dad. Truthfully, he didn't know if this was good or bad.

In the hallway, Dean leaned against a wall and cried. He wanted to stop crying. Sam would follow him any minute now, as soon as dad let him. He had to stay strong. He started taking deep breaths, holding them, then slowly letting them out, trying to calm himself down. By the time his brother came out, Dean had regained his blank, expressionless look.

"Dean, are you-"

"I'm fine!" Dean said quickly, cutting of the concerned question. "Just peachy."

"Uh, alright then. Let's go get the Impala." Sam said quietly.

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**My original plan was to have John die, but I decided against it. Dean and Sam are both minors, so they couldn't just be running around without a legal guardian. Instead, I just had him get badly hurt and be a complete jerk. He's one of my least favorite characters. He doesn't really show up for the rest of the story though, but I needed something really bad to happen to him so the plot could keep moving. Three more chapters to go!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, here's chapter seven! I hope you like it! We're almost done the story, only two chapters after this one to go. I welcome any and all reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any associated characters, events, etc.**

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Chapter 7

On Friday, five days after the Winchesters left school early, Castiel was getting somewhat annoyed. Neither Sam nor Dean had been in school since then, and they still hadn't made the video for english. He had heard that their father was in the hospital because of a car crash, and he felt bad for them, but that didn't change the fact that there was only a week left until they had to turn in the project. By now, everyone knew that Mr. Winchester was going to be fine in about a month, so they didn't really have an excuse to be absent for five days in a row. So this is why Cas found himself waking to the Winchester's house after school, hoping to find Dean and remind him of the project. He didn't want to be rude about it, but he wanted to be on his mother's bad side for grades even less.

Dean was in his driveway, working on the engine of the once beautiful, but now wrecked car. Cas was about to say something, when Dean suddenly straightened up and started cursing.

"Freaking car! Freaking _dad_!" He slammed the hood shut and started kicking at the car, still cursing and practically shouting expletives. He grabbed a wrench and was about to slam it on the car when he noticed Cas standing there, somewhat shocked. "Go away." He growled, placing the wrench back in the tool-bag. "Sam's not home."

"Actually, I need to talk to you about the english project." Castiel tilted his head to the side slightly as he looked at the other boy. "You don't stutter when your mad." He noted. Dean glared at him and turned away. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Dean turned to Cas and, in a strained voice, snapped at him. "Why would I want to talk to you? To have all the jocks talking about my problems at lunch? To get picked on even more? I don't want to talk to you. Now go away."

"I wouldn't talk about it to anyone else." Cas said with a frown. "Besides, even if I did, everyone already knows about the crash. It's already considered 'old news'." He made the air quotes with his hands as he talked. "And talking normally helps people deal with things. There have been studies on that."

"Yeah? Well, I'm sick and tired of people telling me to talk about stuff." Dean growled under his breath.

Cas sighed. This wasn't getting him anywhere. "Well, I came to tell you that there's only a week left to do the project. Just so you know."

The other boy clenched his fists. "I don't care about the freaking Shakespeare project. Heck, I don't care if I fail english all together. It's not like it matters."

"Maybe it doesn't matter to you," Castiel was on his last shred of patience. "But you know what? The world doesn't revolve around you. So you've got problems. Suck it up." Dean looked at Cas in shock. Castiel never lost his temper. Not when he was around people that weren't his siblings. "I've got problems too. At least your dad doesn't expect you to be perfect, or control your life. At least your dad doesn't expect you to ask him if you're allowed to be friends with someone before you decide you like someone. If I get one bad grade, I wouldn't be surprised if my mom threw me out in the street. So you suck up your problems, and help me with this project. I can't do it by myself."

Dean kept staring at Cas for a minute. "Your mom doesn't let you choose your own friends?" He asked in an incredulous voice. "I'm so sorry. That's completely messed up. She must be crazier than I am."

Castiel, who had been glaring at Dean in silence as he tried to get a lid on his emotions, raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem crazy to me." He stated seriously. "You don't even seem particularly nervous right now."

Dean blushed. "Y-yeah. I o-only stutter wh-when I'm worried." He swallowed. "The doctor I s-see sometimes says it's a tr-trauma thing." He didn't look at Cas as he said this, instead choosing to look at his feet. Cas got the feeling he'd never talked to anyone about this before. He wondered if he should ask him about it, or just stand there and listen. Dean kept going, so he just stood there. "I know what you mean when you say your mom might get really bad about that. My dad couldn't care less about my grades, but he, uh," Dean paused and bit his lip, giving Cas a searching glance, wondering whether he could tell him or not, then he looked away quickly. "My dad drinks a lot, and sometimes he just freaks out. He has most of my life, since my mom died. She died in a fire. I saw her. I barely got Sammy out alive." A single tear welled up in Dean's eye, but didn't fall. He looked away from his feet and instead focused on a nearby bush. "And, I saw her, and she was burning, and already dead, and it was awful. And I couldn't cope. And now, I'm, like, constantly worried something like that will happen to Sam, or me, or even dad. And it's always stressing me out. The doctor says I should talk to someone about it, but I never have. I mean," He added, finally looking at Cas again. "Who wants to hear about what happened to me? No one cares but Sam, and I can't talk to him about that. Heck, I've never even told anyone else about any of that crap I just told you." He took a deep breath and let it out again, slowly.

"Do you feel better having said it?" Castiel questioned, with an interested look on his face.

Dean shrugged. "Y-yeah. I think maybe. I'm not stuttering. Mostly. Th-that's gotta count for something." He looked somewhat embarrassed by his rant. "Look, about the p-project..." He started sheepishly.

"Will you help?" Castiel's mood lifted a little. He hoped Dean would agree to help.

"Um, yeah. I guess. I'll pro-probably m-mess up the lines, though. S-sorry you got st-stuck with m-me."

Castiel shrugged. "You know what? At this point, I honestly don't care whether it's good or not, as long as we get it done. Even if we mess up. I'll just avoid my mother for a few weeks." Dean noticed that he had said 'we', instead of 'you', and smiled. Not many people would do that when Dean was involved. "Sorry I yelled at you." The other boy added after a moments thought.

"I yelled at you first." Dean pointed out. "Uh, where should we work on the v-video?"

"Can you come to my house tomorrow at around noon? Sam's been there, he knows where it is." Dean nodded. "Alright. See you tomorrow." As Castiel started to walk away, he paused to look back at Dean. "By the way, I think your doctor's right. You should talk to Sam about that. He wants to help you." Dean blushed slightly as Castiel turned and headed back home.

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**The next chapter is basically the big end, and the chapter after that is kinda like an epilogue. So we've only got two weeks to go until it's over!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Well, this is the second to last chapter! It's also the climax! Wow! I really _really_ hope you like it! Reviews are super awesome, by the way.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any associated characters, events, etc.**

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Chapter 8

Dean's first impression of the Novaks the next day was that they were all _extremely_ friendly. Admittedly, Dean's idea of friendly might have been a bit skewed by years of bullying and his father, but he was pretty sure that most of the Novaks were really nice for no reason. The oldest brother, Michael, went out of his way to talk to Dean and have an actual conversation with him, waiting patiently when Dean stammered and not mentioning it. Luke talked to Sam more than Dean, but he was pretty cool too. Raphael disappeared after helping them with the video, claiming he had homework to do, but he didn't act too rudely. Gabriel kept pestering Sam about some girl named Ruby, to the point where Dean really wanted to know what was up with that. Anna was a bit shy, which surprised Dean because he'd noticed her after the football game, and she hadn't seemed shy at all then. She'd been freaking out all over her brothers. Cas was, well, Cas. Generally quiet, with a neutral expression on his face, though he smiled a bit more often around his family. Their mother wasn't home, thankfully. Dean thought she sounded awful, and he didn't look forward to meeting her.

Dean hadn't done too well on the play until Castiel suggested he get mad at Crowley for assigning the project in the first place. Everyone had laughed at that, but it had helped enough, surprisingly. So, yeah, their performance wasn't going to get them _perfect _grades, but it wasn't going to be _awful_ either. Which was a relief for everyone involved.

As Sam and Dean were getting ready to leave, along with Michael and Luke, Naomi Novak got home. And that was when the trouble started.

"What are you doing in my house?" She asked Michael and Luke chillingly.

Michael tried to explain about the project. "Castiel needed extras for his english video, so we offered to-"

"Shut up and get out of here." She hissed, taking a step closer to him. He took a step back. "Both of you. I don't want you two sons of bitches in here again." She started to walk around them and into the house.

"Well. We were just leaving anyways." Luke said coldly. "Always nice to see ya, mom. Really makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I can see why dad left. If I had been in his shoes, I woulda too."

Naomi froze, and turned to face him, completely shocked. "What did you just say to me?" Everyone but Luke started backing away from her, somewhat horrified. Sam and Dean copied them.

Luke, however, raised his chin and faced her eye to eye. "I said dad left you because you're a controlling bitch, and that I don't even blame him for it any more. If the choices are 'be free of Naomi Novak but never be allowed to see your kids ever', and 'stay with the freaking bitch that piles her issues onto everyone around her and still be allowed to hang out with my kids on occasion', I'd have chosen the exact same thing as him." He turned around, grabbed Michael's arm, dragged him out the door, and slammed it as hard as he could behind him. The other Novaks felt a small urge to cheer, but didn't out of fear of their mother.

Naomi stared at the door in a fury for a few moments longer, then turned to her other kids. She looked like she was going to yell or scream, but paused when she saw the Winchesters, and forced her version of a friendly, apologetic smile on her face. It didn't come close to reaching her eyes, which still burned in anger.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, boys." She said in a falsely sweet voice to them. It ticked Dean off. "I didn't realize you had guests over, Castiel." She turned to her youngest son, who paled very slightly.

"We had to work on a project together." He mumbled, not meeting her eyes. "The shakespeare project Mr. Crowley gives us every year for a huge portion of our english grade." He added.

She glared at him, the fake smile still fixed in place. "You should have told me there were people over. Really," She scolded, starting to glare again. "If you had told me, then this whole embarrassing incident wouldn't have happened in the first place. Sometimes I can't believe I've raised such imbeciles." Her voice lst it's artificial sweetness and turned bitter.

Dean couldn't take it anymore. "We need to go, Cas, sorry." He didn't stutter because he was mad at the way Naomi was treating her kids. She was as bad as his dad, possibly worse! As he and Sam started going out the door, he turned to look at Castiel's mother once again. "By the way, ma'am," He said in a polite tone. "You're children are some of the smartest people I've met, and I don't think any of the things you've said to them in the last few minutes can be justified. Have a nice day." He added, going out the door in a much quieter exit than Luke.

Naomi pursed her lips. "Castiel." She said once the Winchesters had left. "If I see either of those boys in my house again, or hear that you've been associating with them in any way, I'm kicking you out of the house." It was an overreaction, and everyone but her knew it. Anna and Gabriel, who had liked Sam and Dean quite a lot once they got to know them, shared unhappy glances behind their mother's back. Cas always did what he was told to do. They'd probably practically never see the Winchesters again.

"Fine." Castiel said stiffly. "I'll go get my things and leave, then." Gabriel and Anna looked at him in shock. Naomi narrowed her eyes.

"You're bluffing." She said with a suspicious look. "You don't have anywhere to go."

Cas shrugged. "Sure I do. I could go to Balthazar's place. His parents love me. They wouldn't object."

"Fine."

"Fine." The two had a staring contest in the hall for a moment, then Castiel turned away and headed for the stairs. "Give me five minutes to grab what I need, and I'll be gone." He called out behind him.

Five minutes later, Castiel gave Anna and Gabriel each a parting hug and walked out, carrying his backpack and a medium sized suitcase with him.

Not long after he had left, Raphael came down the stairs. "I finished my homework." He cast a confused glance around the room. "Where's Castel? I thought I heard him come downstairs."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. Of course Raphael missed the whole thing.

* * *

******Yeah, my version of Naomi is completely insane. Like, to the point where I think I might have accidentally written her with some serious mental health problems. I really hate her in the show...**

******Well, we're almost at the finish line! Crazy, huh? **I'm probably going to post the last chapter on Thursday, instead of Friday, but don't hold me to my word on that. There's a chance that I won't have access to a computer from Friday morning to Sunday evening, so I probably just won't risk it and instead I'll post on Thursday.


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay guys, this is...*drum-roll in the background*...THE LAST CHAPTER! Basically, it's what happens on Monday when they go back to school. I like it, but if you don't, that's okay. Your opinion. I love reviews, as long as they aren't too rude. Constructive criticism is fine, though. Anyway, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any associated characters, events, etc.**

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Chapter 9

Castiel was surprised at how quickly all his friends learned what had happened on Saturday. He walked into school Monday morning, and was swarmed by people wanting to know exactly what he and his mom fought about, and why, and every little insignificant detail. It was kind of annoying.

Apparently, Balthazar had told Meg and Uriel why Cas was staying with him, and they had started telling everyone else. The rumor mill had then butchered the story so badly that a few people were under the impression that Naomi had pulled a gun on him. He tried to straighten out what had happened, but for a crowd of people who were all busy talking about what happened him, no one seemed particularly happy with his side of the story. His mom was being completely awful and he couldn't take it anymore, so he walked away.

He told his closer friends about how Dean had actually stood up to her first, and they were, to say the least, surprised. Though, taking another look at Dean, who had come back to school(finally), they realized that it could be true. Dean wasn't as scared, or as twitchy, as he had been before. He held himself more confidently, and seemed more focused on the world around him. And he didn't stutter nearly as much. It wasn't quite so hard to see him standing up to Mrs. Novak. And besides, it was clear that _something_ had happened to lessen his fear of everything. Arguing with Castiel's mom was more likely than most other scenarios.

Gabriel tracked Cas down before the first class. "Cas!" Cas turned, and gave his older brother a wan smile. "Could you do me a favor?" Gabriel asked, looking around and lowering his voice a bit, so as not to be overheard. "Try and find out if Balthazar or his parents would mind me staying with them as well. I'm considering bailing. If they can't, I'll see if I can find someplace else to go." He grinned at his younger brother's shocked expression. "Don't tell Raphael. He's pretty ticked that you left. Talking about how 'the family should at least _try_ and stick together', and whatnot. Oh, and Anna told me to tell you she wishes you stayed, but completely understands why you had to."

"Oh." Castiel said, slightly dumbfounded. "Okay. Uh, tell Anna I say hi. And yeah, I'll ask Balthazar. His parents might say yes. He has a big house, and they're pretty friendly."

Gabriel grinned broadly, clapping Cas on the shoulder. "Thanks! Oh, I told Mike and Luke about what happened."

"I know. They texted me."

"What'd they say?"

"Luke offered to let me come live with them. I said I'll consider it, but I don't really want to move out of town, if I can avoid it. Michael says he wishes I had stayed until I graduated, but he's proud of me." Cas blushed very slightly. He hadn't been trying to make his brothers proud, he'd just gotten tired of their mother and all of her problems. Suddenly, Castiel remembered something important. "Actually, could _you _do _me_ a favor as well? I left the video at home. Could you bring it in tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem. See you later, okay?"

The bell rang for first period, and the two brothers had to split up.

* * *

At lunch, Jo Harvelle came up to their table to talk to Cas. "Hey, Castiel, you probably need a job or something, right? Now that your mom kicked you out? Because the restaurant my mom owns, the Roadhouse, is hiring, and I think I could talk her into giving you a job." She ignored Meg while talking, who in turn was ignoring her. They'd never gotten along, but when Meg's pitbull attacked Jo and her mom last year, their rivalry had spiked, then fallen down into a 'I won't acknowledge your existence if you won't acknowledge mine' sort of thing. They had rushed to finish the Shakespeare project just so that their momentary partnership would be over with as soon as possible. Now they were back on their regular schedule of ignoring each other.

"Thanks, I'll look into that." Cas gave her a nod and a smile, which she returned before leaving the group once more.

"You know," Balthazar said, picking up his sandwich and taking a bite. "I never realized how much of a jerk your mom is before. My parents would never kick me out." He added thoughtfully. Cas just shrugged.

"Hey, is that Dean?" Meg asked suddenly, looking off towards the far end of the cafeteria. Everyone turned to look. Sure enough, Dean Winchester was sitting by himself at the other side of the caf, reading a book. Meg got up and started to walk in his direction. "Be right back."

"What're you doing?" Uriel asked, looking at Meg in confusion.

"I'm going to invite him to sit with us. He's not too bad, for a nerd." She replied casually, then headed off towards the distant table. The group watched as she went up to him and started talking. He looked surprised, and maybe a little nervous, and the longer she talked, the more shocked he seemed. After a minute or so of this, she folded her arms and just stood there, staring at him. He relented, and got up. Then Meg grabbed his arm and started leading him over to their table. As she got closer, the group realized she was smirking.

"Here. 'Kay, everyone, you all know Dean. Dean, this is Balthazar and Uriel. And some other people might show up later." He stood kind of awkwardly, until she sighed. "Just sit down, okay? We aren't going to punch you or something." Dean sat down, blushing. The rest of the group acted as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, greeting Dean and then going about their conversations as usual.

Dean never sat alone at lunch again.

* * *

That Friday, in his office, Anthony J. Crowley was in a bad mood. When he assigned the projects, he had made sure to pair up people that wouldn't work well together. If another teacher had asked him about it, he would have lied and said that he was trying to encourage them to set aside their differences. In reality, he just wanted to see how the assignments crashed and burned. It was far more entertaining when that happened. But this years videos had all been turned in with minimal problems. The two pairs he had thought would be the most entertaining were positively boring. Kevin Tran and Richard Roman got the video done efficiently enough, though there were rumors that Kevin had sprayed bleach in Dick's eyes afterwards, rumors that were backed up by how pleased Kevin looked with himself and the glares that Dick kept sending him with puffy red eyes. And then the Novak boy and the Winchester boy not only gotten it done, with a decent enough grade, they also ended up as friends! But all the videos themselves were just boring.

_All the fun has gone out of teaching._ He thought sourly, as he graded yet another video of sixteen and seventeen year-olds stumbling through Shakespeare. _Well,_ he added after a moments thought. _There's always next year!_

* * *

**That's it! That's the end! It's been a pleasure writing this, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Thank you, so much, for reading this!**

**(Just out of curiosity, did any of you notice my reference to 'Good Omens'? If you haven't read 'Good Omens', there's a demon in it named Anthony J. Crowley. Very good book, it's written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, I recommend it to anyone that likes Supernatural. It has a lot of the same themes.)**


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